ME - Aftermath
by Unickcorn
Summary: -Contains ME 3 spoilers for those who haven't played yet- Summarizes the end of ME 3 and the rest is made up from there. Will include Liara x Shepard (M) Romance. We'll see how it goes, if you like it lemme know and I'll keep it going.
1. Chapter 1

"Stay with me Anderson."

"I've been in worse-" A sharp cough interrupts him, followed by a wince of pain and a muffled cuse. "situations.. Go Shepard. I'll be fine, just gunna rest a bit."

The other male's gaze drops, looking out at what was left of the inside of the Citadel before heaving a hard breath out. It was all too obvious his Admiral, no, friend wasn't going to make it. He was bleeding out; only just hanging on. Knowing this only made it harder on Shepard. All he could do was be there and try to keep him alive until this thing was over, even if the thought of him surviving was just a rediculous fantasy. "You deserved it." He spoke finally, placing a comforting hand onto the Admiral's shoulder. Anderson could only let out a pained chuckle at Shepard's words before leaning his head against the destroyed wall supporting him and finally letting his eyes shut.

He was alone now. Atleast he thought he was anyway.

Shepard, in no better shape, leaned his head back aswell with a heavy, pained sigh, ready to give up the fight himself; The thought of "just resting" sounding fairly appealing. Amazingly appealing. So amazing he just might close his eyes for awhile. And so he did. His heavy eyes shut and for a minute he felt complete bliss. Finally. He could rest. But, alas, his moment of bliss was ended by the sudden sound of static buzzing in his ear, followed by an unfamiliar voice; It was hard to make out with the coarse static interfering.

"-pard?! .. Shepard?!"

Oh, that's right... there was still a war going on outside.

Coming back to his senses, the male forced his hand up to his ear lazily, pressing his two fingers to his communicator in his ear and forcing himself to speak up. He couldn't give up.. not now. The reapers were still destroying everything, killing humans and aliens alike and like hell he was going to die now. There was still alot he needed to do. "I'm here." His voice strong despite his current condition; His suit was destroyed; burned onto his skin in some areas and his head was bleeding and bones, most-likely, were fractured and broken all throughout his body. It wasn't the best condition he had been in, but hey, it wasn't exactly the worst he had been in either.

"Thank god! ... They're slaughti-.. out here. We nee- ... Hel-" The communication cut off, leaving Shepard with the jist of what was still going on just outside of the citadel.

"I'm on it." Shepard spoke up, not all too sure if they recieved the reply or not, but nevertheless, forced himself up from the floor only to topple over again. He was on all fours now, breathing heavily in pain as he fought to move. One hand moved out infront of him, his opposite knee following until he was able to get some distance between himself and the wall Anderson leaned lifeless against. It took him a moment, but he was finally able to pull himself up using a nearby console and all his determination.

Once he was up, he was still for a moment, catching his breath and composing himself the best he could before straghtening up and taking his pistol from his side. He started forward, his legs taking a few moments to relearn what they were made to do; walk. Or in his case, limp. His body was a mess and his mental state was even worse; His thoughts were all over the place. From Mordin and Eve to Kaiden and Wrex and then finally to Thane. His friends were killed protecting something and like hell he was going to let all their sacrifices go to waste.

It was slow going at first; Shepard having to occasionally stop to lean against something to regain himself, but continued on his way down the descimated path. Bodies littered the ground, piled on top each other. It wasn't something someone could easily overlook, nor was the smell within the Citadel. Though Shepard was lucky enough to have a nose full of dried blood, well, not that lucky..

He came to another stop, his legs finally giving out on him and causing him to drop to his knees with a pained groan. He had to keep moving, but his body wouldn't co-operate. Wouldn't get up and move. He tightened his grip around his pistol and gritted his teeth as he forced his head up the tinest bit. But as soon as it lifted it fell; his vision going dark. He felt cold again; his eye lids feeling heavy once more.

'Just for a minute.. I'll rest just for a minute..' He thought, giving into the welcoming whispers calling out to him.

"Wake up."

Unaware he had been lifted to the top of the Citadel, Shepard slowly opened his eyes again. And there his gaze was met by a small child-like figure. It looked familiar, felt familiar. And then he realized it.. It was the child that he had been unable to protect back on earth. Talk about a shot to the heart. This one kid had been the cause of his many nightmares and they just seemed to get escalatingly worse. ..Perhaps.. maybe this whole thing was just a nightmare? ..The Collectors.. the Reapers.. this war. "Where am I? ...Who are you?" he asked groggily, his body jerkingly forcing itself to rise back onto all fours.

The place he had been brought to was quite big with a large pillar of blue light projecting towards the sky. It would've been almost breathtaking if he had actually been able to breath properly. As was the view from where he crouched. It was like they were on the roof of the Citadel; surround by the black abyss called Space. Though it wasn't completely dark and only speckled with tiny white lights. No. It was lite by large firey explostions and red light beams; the Reaper war was most certainly going strong. And by the looks of things the Alliance wasn't going to be the winning team.

The small boy watched as the male infront of him rose, remaining silent even after the male had spoken his question. "The Citadel, it's my home." He finally answered, his blank face starring back at the man before him. "I am the Catalyst."

"I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst."

"No, the Citadel is part of me."

Shepard's head lifted, looking up to the small, glowing figure in front of him. 'Part of him?' he questioned himself, a face of confusion present. Though that expression changed when he forced himself up. " I need to stop the Reapers. Do you know how I can do that?"

"Perhaps, I control the Reapers. They are my solution." The child then turns towards the blue light, letting a few moments of silence pass.

Taking a step forward, he places a hand to his waist, gripping at his side. "Solution? .. To what?"

"Chaos." The boy continues to walk towards the pole of light, his gaze set upon it, head held high as if he were proud of what he was doing. "The created will always rebel against their creators, but we found a way for that to stop happening. A way to restore order for the next cycle."

"By wiping out Organic life?"

The child stops halfway to the light, turning to face the man who is still fighting to keep upright, but none-the-less has been able to keep up with his pace, only stopping when the child had turned around. "No. We harvest advanced civilizations and leave the younger ones alone." He pauses to look him over once more before continung forward. "Just as we left your people alive last time we were here."

"But you killed the rest.."

"We helped them ascend so they can make way for new life, storing the old life in Reaper form."

"I think we rather keep our own form." Shepard huffed, now standing right beside the translusant child-like figure.

"No, you can't..." He pauses to look up at Shepard, almost as if considering his words. "Without us to stop it, synthetics would destroy all organics. We've created the cycle so that never happens. That's the solution.

A frown comes onto Shepard's already tired face. "But you're taking away our future. Without a future we have no hope. Without hope we might aswell be machines, programmed to do what we're told."

"You have hope.. more than you think. The fact that you're standing here, the first organic, proves it. " He pauses again, his gaze shifting up at Shepard. "But it also proves my solution won't work anymore.

"So now what?"

"We find a new solution."

"Yeah, but how?

"The crucible changed me, created ... possibilites. But I can't make them happen." He speaks, the child's blank gaze moving back onto the beam of light. "I know you've thought about destroying us..." He pauses again to look at Shepard. "You can wipe out all Synthetic life if you want.. including the Geth, even you are a Synthetic."

"But the Reapers will be destroyed?"

"Yes, but the peace won't last. Soon your children will create synthetics and then choas will come back."

"Maybe" He speaks, unsure of the possiblity. It could happen or it couldn't; there was a 50/50 chance of either happening.

"Or do you think you can control Us?"

Shepard let out a gentle chuckle at the mention of controlling them. The Illusive Man had tried to take control, but was too weak minded and was ended up under their control. "Huh.. so the Illusive Man was right afterall.." he trailed off, his blurry vision eying the other machine off to the side of the blue torch.

"Yes, but he could've never taken control... because we already controlled him."

"But I can..?"

"You will die. You can control us, but you will lose everything you have."

"But the Reapers will obey me?" If they did obey him he'd be able to stop this cycle from being destroyed and the cycles well after this one. He could save millions with only his sacrifice.

"Yes." He looks to Shepard once more, his blank gaze and monotone voice continuing. "There is another solution.."

Yet another choice..

"Yeah..?"

"Synthosize."

"And what's that?"

"Add your energy to the crucable's. Everything you are will be obsorbed and then sent out... The chain reaction will combine all synthetics and organics into a new frame work. A new... DNA."

"I...don't know." He spoke, looking to the battle ongoing outside the barrier he stood inside.

"Why not? Synthetics are already a part of you. Can you imagine life without them?"

"And there will be peace?"

"The cycle will end. Synthsis is the final evolution of life, but we need each other to make it happen. You have a difficult decision." A Difficult one indeed. "Releasing the energy in the crucable will be the end of the cycle, but will also destroy the mass relays. The paths are open.. but you have to choose."

Before he could answer the child had already vanished, leaving him alone and standing at the center of three paths. He studied his options, going over the results in his head. While they all ended with his death, which was envitable, he didn't know which to choose. Controlling them wasn't something he nessicarily wanted to do, but then neither was synthesising with the crucable. So that left destroying them and hoping like hell this cycle would prevent synthetics from getting too out of hand. Shepard swallowed hard, gripping at his waist before moving towards the machine to the right of the light.

His pistol still gripped tightly into his hand, Shepard appraoched the machine, lifting his weapon up to take aim on the cercuit board. His last thoughts were of his crew... Of Garrus, Legion, Mordin, Thane, Grunt, Liara and just about everybody else he had come across in his travels, though one person showed up more than once. And that was Liara. He wouldn't have been able to do anything without her help back when he first came in contact with the alien artifacts; giving him disoreintated dreams of the past. She was the one who put them back together.. straightened them out. He had a lot to thank her for and now he couldn't.. couldn't thank any of his crew or the people who joined this war with them.

His muscles ached as he quickened his pace, his aim wavering over the target before letting off a couple of rounds. They crashed into the metal, some hitting and some so far off they missed the machine completly. He let out a grunt of frustration as he reloaded his weapon, then moved his other hand to the bottom of his pistol, helping his arm to become steady before firing again. This time the majority of them hit, causing sparks to fly.

He continued forward, taking one last step before being blown back in a mass of fire, smoke and metal shrapnel; pieces of the surrounding machines soon to follow.

Everything fell quiet after the explosion; the occasional sound of rubble crumbling was about the only present sound. It didn't matter how distant it was, it still managed to echo in the silence.

It was peaceful and Shepard, finally, was able to rest.


	2. Chapter 2

Outside of the Citadel, on the other hand, still raged with war; the Reapers holding the upper hand in the battle. Turians, Salarians, Krogans, Geth.. all the forces Shepard had gathered together with sheer determination just didn't seem like it was going to be enough; the Reapers were just too strong.

Several Turian gunners circled one of the massive squid-like machines, firing rapidly at it's weak points in attempt to destroy it, though that attempt ended with a light show; the Turian ships exploding upon contact with it's fierce red laser.

The fight didn't feel like it was going to end at this point. They had only managed to destroy three Reapers. Unfortunately, the in all count was only five; the one Shepard and company -and Kalros- destroyed on Tuchanka and the other they blew away with the help of the Normandy's upgrades. And, if you want to get technical, Sovergien. So six, in total. But hey, it was a great accomplishment especially since Sovergien was ten times bigger than the ones they were currently fighting.

Just as the battle was at it's climax, everything seemed to take a turn for the better. The massive machines started to twitch sparatically, unable to function properly. Their red beams died out and then they were still, for the moment anyhow.

The Alliance's attention was soon grabbed by the sudden orb of light gathering at the tip of the citadel. "What's happening?" Chatter beginning to sound throughout the com links. No one knew what was happening and was certainly unaware of the happenings within the Citadel; what Shepard had chosen to do.

The Allied forces stilled, unsure of how to react to the situation. "Admiral Hackett, what are your orders?"

But before the man in charge could utter a word, the ball of orange light expanded outward, engulfing the citadel and surrounding Reapers, causing them to burst into a kamizee mass of fire and shrapnel.

"All forces pull back!" The commands were simple and clear; all forces Turian, Krogan, Batarian, Quarian, Salarian, Vorcha.. all of them pulled back. Some just managed to escape the consecative explosions while others were caught up in them; the Geth, unfortunately, dying off with the Reapers. All synthetics were wiped out, EDI included.

The light force collected around the relay, the dual metal rings growing in speed, collecting the light, before sending it off to the next relay and then to the next; a chain reaction like dominos falling over. One after another exploded, shrapnel flying through space and stopping any left over Alliance ships from any kind of escape.

The Normandy, Shepard's loyal ship and team, were fighting against the current the wave of light was making, pulling them backwards and threatening to take them out. It was thanks to Joker's piloting skills that they were able to get away safetly without too much damage, landing on a nearby planet. It wasn't until they were safetly on the ground, tucked away in a canopy of lucious greenery, the crew gathered outside, looking towards the sky and watching as explosions continued, the darkness of space being lite up with, what looked like fireworks, flames and smoke.

'Shepard...' Saddened blue eyes starred painfully up at the sky, heartbroken by the knowledge of what their loyal Commander had done. He had sacrificed his own life for many. Again, she was to mourn her lose... again.. she had lost him. She knew there was no way he was coming back this time, even if she did find the body again. It was probably wrecked far beyond what it was the first time, something even Cerberus couldn't fix, but she couldn't just leave him. She needed to be there for him.. he needed to know she'd never forgot him. No one would.

She just needed to see him one last time... just once more..

"I'm taking a shuttle." She spoked, turning, leaving Garrus' supporting shoulder, and limped her way into the ship, the rest watching with sadness in their eyes. They knew what Liara was planning to do and well, the others just couldn't let her do it. Not alone anyways. Garrus and Grunt took off after her, catching up to her wasn't hard as she was pretty injured from the earlier rush to the beam.

"We're coming with you."

Liara only looked at the two, arm clutched to her side. She knew she couldn't do it alone, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing it. This was Shepard.. she'd do anything or him. "Thank you."

The three shared a soft smile before Garrus returned to her side, helping her to the shuttle; Grunt following along behind. They got settled inside, Garrus sitting in the pilot seat while Grunt and Liara, having been forced, sat in the back.

"Hatch is open.." Joker buzzed in over the comm link. "..Bring him home."

"Will do." Garrus returned, taking off out of the open hatch.

Debre filled the dark abyss around them, pieces of ships and reapers floating past them. Everything was calm despite what had just happened moments prior to their retrieval mission.

It wasn't long until they team of three found the remains of the Citadel, still somewhat intact compared to the other masses of metal around it; the Reapers had been blown to hell and back.

Garrus guided the shuttle the best he could onto the Citadel. It was still a butcher's pit; lifeless bodies scattered everywhere. The smell far worse now that some of the bodies within had caught fire in the blast.

The three stepped out of the shuttle, stopping cold at the site. "This is.. "

"..Any body else hungry?"

Liara didn't even bother glancing back at Grunt despite his rude comment. She was more concerned and focused on finding Shepard, Garrus the same. The two stayed together, the Turian supporting her along the way as Grunt trailed behind, looking curiously at their surrounding. Yes, they were on the Citadel, but everything looked.. off. The only thing that was the same was the Keepers who were still at their consoles working as if there weren't millions of dead bodies laying around.

The trio moved through the halls, stepping over bodies and god knows what else when they stumbled upon the control room Shepard and Anderson had ran into the Illusive man in. Liara left Garrus' aid, making her way towards the still figure leaning against the wall. "Anderson." She spoke, her tone soft as she crouched beside him, placing a hand on his cheek, slowly moving it to his neck to check for a pulse. Nothing. "Grunt.."

"Yeah, yeah, I got him." He spoke, picking the Admiral up with ease, craddling him in his arms. "I'll take him back to the shuttle." With that, he turned and headed back to the vessle they arrived in.

The two remained in the room for a moment longer, finding the Illusive man's body laying not far from where Liara had discovered Anderson's body. There was a bullet in his head and piercing blue eye's starring up at them. "He was indoctrinated just as Saren was." Liara spoke, investigating the man's eyes further. They were quite unique, but she'd never forget where she had first seen them; Saren.

"Wonder why he did it.. He must've know that the Reapers were just going to throw him away after they got what they wanted."

"I suppose it was too late when he came to realize.."

The two didn't waste anymore time after the control room, heading further into the Citadel they all called home or had called home. Now it was a crypt; a far cry from anything to be considered home again. Even after being in there for so long, searching, the sight was never easy to get use to nor the smell. It haunted you, forcing you to look at the lifelessness of it all. The walk was silent, Liara and Garrus walking side by side with determination. They needed to find Shepard. He needed to be found and rescued no matter what was left of him. He was their Commander, a friend.. a loved one. He held everything together, hell, managed to bring every race together to overcome the biggest threat to all organic life; the Reapers. He'd be remembered forever, known as a Hero and probably even a god to some.

Liara soon came to a stop just infront of what appeared to be an elevator drop zone, the platform fitting into it missing. "He must be this way.." Liara spoke, holding onto any and every piece of hope left in her body. She knew she shouldn't get worked up over the possibility of him surviving. She knew... but it was just so hard not to hold onto that hope.

Garrus moved to the small orange screen, pressing the call button and backing away a bit, rejoining Liara at her side.

The platform slowly made it's way down, making it feel like an eternity for the two awaiting it. Garrus and Liara, once it set into position, stepped onto the slim platform and hit another button to ascend; the trip up no faster. Liara fidgeted anxiously while all Garrus could do was stand in silence. He didn't know what to expect, but he too, like Liara, held tightly onto all the hope in the world that Shepard was alive. But despite wanting it to be true, the thoughts of the worst case having happened kept nagging at him.


End file.
